ALWAYS ON, ALWAYS STRESSED? HYBRID WORK, BOUNDARY BLURRING, AND EMPLOYEE WELL-BEING IN THE MODERN ORGANISATION

Dinko Herman Boikanyo ()
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Dinko Herman Boikanyo: University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa

Business Excellence and Management, 2026, vol. 16, issue 5, 5-25

Abstract: Hybrid work has become a defining feature of the modern organisation, widely promoted for its potential to enhance flexibility and autonomy. However, growing evidence suggests that hybrid work may intensify employee stress by eroding traditional work non work boundaries. Drawing on boundary theory, the Job Demands Resources model, and Conservation of Resources theory, this conceptual paper develops an integrative framework explaining how hybrid work generates stress through boundary blurring. Boundary blurring is conceptualised as a multidimensional construct encompassing temporal, spatial, and psychological domains that function as chronic job demands, depleting employee resources and undermining recovery. The framework identifies key stress mechanisms including cognitive overload, impaired psychological detachment, and role conflict, and highlights individual, organisational, and institutional factors that moderate these relationships. By reframing employee stress as a systemic outcome of hybrid work design rather than an individual coping failure, the paper advances theory on new ways of working and offers insights for more sustainable, well-being oriented hybrid work practices.

Keywords: Hybrid work; Boundary blurring; Employee stress; Psychological detachment; Job demands–resources; Employee well-being (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:rom:bemann:v:16:y:2026:i:5:p:5-25

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